DIY: How To Paint Stripes and Product Review of U-Stripe It

February 21, 2012

Not too long ago I wrote an article for Build Direct on adding stripes into your decor. Ever since, I’ve had the longing urge to add stripes SOMEPLACE in my home. I recently made some new pillows for my family room and chose a fabric with stripes, but that wasn’t enough. I truly envisioned making a bold statement, but just wasn’t sure where. Until…

We started off by taking apart his bunkbeds (which you can see in this post), so he now has two twin beds in his room. We removed the train table, which he was getting a little too old for (his words, not mine) and in the midst of furniture rearranging to create my new office space, I gave him one of the desks that I was no longer using. ‘This desk’ has been desperately waiting patiently for a makeover for a LONG TIME and now that it finally has a home, it’s time. {sigh}

Thankfully to my generous friends at U-Stripe It, they made my life alot easier to tackle my idea for adding stripes to the wall. Because the wall was already painted (Benjamin Moore – Puritan Gray), I was able to jump right in and start painting the stripes. For fun stripes, I used denim blue, rustic deep red, and crisp wintry white. There was no rhyme or reason to my stripe layout, but before I started, I sketched this quick drawing as a vision for what I wanted to create.

From U-Stripe It, I received everything I needed to create my stripes, including their handy-dandy Paint Tool, a roll of 3M Painters tape, two levels, and 3M Command Mounting Strips.

Once I was ready to start my stripes, I added the mounting strip to the back of the U-Stripe It Paint Tool, positioned it horizontally on the wall, and locked it in place.

I then added the painters tape along the edges of the tool and continued it across the wall.

In about 30 minutes, I had completed making my stripes on the wall…

…And I was ready to paint. {WARNING: these pictures aren’t so pretty since I was painting fairly late in the evening once the kiddos were asleep. And NO, I was NOT painting over my son’s head – he was fast asleep in another room}

Once the painting was complete, it was time to do the unveiling!

What a difference the room looks. A simply added touch, truly makes for a huge impact.

Over the two beds will be black and white pictures of my little boy (which I still have to do). I moved the vintage airplanes (which I purchased from Home Goods years ago) over the dresser instead of over his head (not a good place if one ended up snapping off the fishing line and falling on his head during the night). I also handmade a sign with his name and traits – this was probably the most difficult project I’ve ever created, but I kept with it and in the end, am really happy with the result. Lastly, the dresser he’s had for a few years and was purchased from Ikea.

There is still some work to be done on this room and I wouldn’t dare show you a picture of the current state that it’s in, but it’s coming along!

Stripes are such a fun and easy way to add some personality to a space. Have you painted stripes in your interiors?

Disclosure: I have a material connection because I received an item of nominal value from a company affiliated with a brand, topic and/or product that is mentioned herein, but all the content and opinions in this post are 100% mine!

Comments

I have never heard of this tool before, how cool is that? I just painted some stripes on my office wall (latest blog post) and it wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought but this tool would eliminate the need for a laser level that I used.

Looks excellent! You chose the perfect colors for his room. Pinning it for sure. :)

Oh, this came out great! I would love to add stripes somewhere & now that tool will definitely help! I have a kitchen & bathroom being done this spring/ summer & hope to share our remodel, but not looking forward to the chaos. lol

Nice job on the stripes! I had previously done a stripe paint job with blue painter’s tape and had a little bit of bleed, not much – like the tiny bit of wavering shown in your picture #10 of the top blue stripe. But I’m a bit OCD and wanted really precision, perfect stripes. So last month I painted stripes in my daughter’s bathroom and tried the green Frog Tape. At $8 per precious roll I hoped it would do the job – and …. IT DID! Absolute perfection, as crisp of a line on a steel ruler.

Just found your website and am bookmarking it – great ideas and a new source for what I call my DIY-Porn! :o) Thanks!

Great to know about the frog tape. I was debating using it and decided against it because I already had the 3m painters tape at home… shouldn’t have cheaped out, lol. Next time, I’ll know – thanks! Jenna

Oh my – I just realized this post is a product review for the 3M U-Stripe It. Let me add that I have used dozens rolls of 3M painters tape and it is my go-to-tape when painting windows, trim and other projects. However, I just found the adhesive on the Frog Tape to be superior in preventing bleeding when painting high-contrast stripes. Other than that – 3M tape is a must and the U-Stripe It gadget would have saved me hours. I spent at least 9 hours using various rulers, levels, pencils & erasers to get the stripes uniform and straight because they went horizontally around all 4 walls. I am just now recovering from shoulder tendonitis and a herniated disc in my neck after 6 weeks of physical therapy. Apparently having your arms raised over your head and your neck craned looking up days on end was too much strain on my body. Glad to see this product and will use it if I decide to do another striping job!

I am a sucker for stripes, I just love what you did! What a neat tool as well. I just finished my son’s room as well but was thinking of doing a stripe all the way around. You might have inspired me to still include it!

What a wonderful idea! We just moved so I had the opportunity to redecorate my son’s room. I wanted someone that would grow with him and this is perfect! Thanks! If you don’t mind me asking, what did you do for the curtains in the room? Thanks and, again, great job!

So happy you love it Lindsey. The striped wall was painted over about a year ago, so it is tricky to share the exact details, but from the pictures, I think the first stripe was 12″, followed by 1.5″, then 3″, and finally 1″. I hope this helps! Good Luck.

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[…] of putting some decorating touches on my son’s room and one part that I just finished up was adding stripes to his bed wall. The stripes were fairly easy to paint, BUT I was left with quite a bit of touch up work AFTER I […]